Tube expander and flarer



- Feb. 18,.l930. G. R. MAUPIN TUBE EXPANDER AND FLARER Filed April 5.1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 NN. v)

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Feb- 18, 1930- G. R. MAUPIN '.TUBE EXPANDER AND FLARER 2 Sheets-Sheet` 2Filed April 5. 1928 ,Patented Feb. 1s, 1930 UNITED STATES4 PATENT oFFlcEGEAvEs E. MAUPIN, or IIoEEELY, IIIssoUEI, AssIeNoR 'ro THE J. ,EAEssLEEManurAc'rUnING COMPANY, A'corAErNEEsIIIr coMrosEn 'or ELIZABETH.EAEssrER,

CHRISTINIA FAESSLER, lLOUIS E. FAESSLER,

MOBERLY, MISSOURI -AND GRAVES R. MAUPIN, ALI:v OF

TUBE EXPANDER AND FLARER I Application filed April 5, 19.28. Serial No.267,527.

My invention relates vto improvements in tube expanders' and llarers,and' h'as for its primary object a tube expander and' ilarer which isprovided with separate expanding and flaring rollers, all of the rollershowever being controlled by a single mandrel.

A still further object is to construct a tube expander and flarer inwhich certain of the rollers are directed radially outward and faceparallel to thev axis of the tube and the flaring rollers directedoutwardly at an angle to the axis of the tube and toward the seat of thetubes. y

A. still further object is to construct a tube expander and flarer.which will feed itself longitudinally through the tube for apredetermined distance or until its longitudinal movement is halted byexcess pressure and then commence .to expand the tube radiallyA andsimultaneously therewith flare the end of the tube.

A still further object is to construct a tub'e expander and flarer bymeans of which tubes can be expanded in their seats and their projectingends simultaneously flared without imparting any longitudinal stress tothe tube as a whole.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view of my expanded in a header, being in section;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged end view of my expander and header;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same with parts broken away and partsin section;

Fig. 4 is a cross-section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3 looking'in thedirection indicated by the arrow;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of one of the ilaring rollers employed;

Fig. 7 is a modified form of construction such as is employed for thinwalled tubes;

Fig. Sis a section taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7 showing the rolls incollapsed position;

Fig. 9 is a fragmental sectional view of a different form of preparingthe tube seat than that illustrated in Fig. 1;

device showing a tube the header and tube Acage as well as Fig. 10 is aplan View of the expanding rollers employed when heavy tubes are to beared; and l Fig. 11 is a section taken on the line 11-11 of Fig. 8 andillustrating the flaring rollers in collapsed position. l

In the construction of my device I employ a. cage which has a forwardtapered portion 12, a cylindrical portion 13, an intermediate oroutwardly tapered portion 14, a cylindrical portion 15; and an inwardly16. Integral wlth the portion 16 is a shank o'r sleeve 17 which acts asahandle for introduc- A tapered portion designed to receive a wrench orsocket of a motor or similar turning devicein the event it is notdesired to use bars. l

y The forward portion of the mandrel 19 is provided with an abrupt taper24 which ter- 'minates in a reduced cylindrical portion 25.

'This reduced cylindrical portion projects into a sleeve 26, which hasits end 27 adjacent the cylindrical portion tapered, the opposite endbeing provided with a head 28. The sleeve '26 is'secured to the reducedcylindrical portion 25 by means of a'screw or similar fasteningr means29. l 'V The cylindrical portion 13 of the cage 1s provided with aplurality of radially extending slots 30, which are designed to receivesectional rollers. The ends of the slots adj acent the periphery of themember 13 are reduced in width as indicated by the numeral 31 so thatthe openings in the periphery ot the member 13 will be slightly lessthanthe diameter of the rollers thereby preventing the rollers from passingentirely beyond the periph'- ery of the member 13'. In other words,their outward radial movement is prevented.

- dicated by the arrows in'Fi Located in the radial openings 30 arerollers 32 and 33, which form pairs and rollers 34 vand 35, which alsoform pairs. It will be noted, however, from Figs. l and 3, that thegrooves or radial openings 30, in which the V`'rollers 34 and 35 arelocated, are longer than the radial openings in which the rollers 32 and33 are located. The purpose of this will be explained in detail later.

It will also Y be noted from Figs. 1v and 3 of the cage so that thelongitudinal axis of the rollers when in position will be at an an le tothe longitudinal axis of the cage and a so of the mandrel. In this waythe mandrel and tool are made self feeding. In other words, the rotationof the mandrel acting in conjunction with the angle Iof inclination ofthe rollers will cause the mandrel'to feed forward Y when turned in onedirection and as contact 1s made with the tube by the periphery of therollers, this angle of inclination will also tend to feedthe entire toollongitudinally of the tube'. i

The portions 14 and 15 of the cage are provided with openings 36, whichopenings extend at an angle to the diameter lofthe cage. In other Words,these openings are inclined forwardly of the cage as illustrated inFigs. 5 and 8 so that when the mandrel 19 feeds forward, the rollers 32,33, 34 and 35 -will be fed out radially while the rollers 37 located inthe openings 36 are not only fed outwardly but also'toward the frontendof the tool as in- The rollers 37 are in the gorm of a truncated cone asillustrated in. Fig. 6, the inclination of the face of the rollerscontrollin the amount of flare imparted to the end o the tube.

In Fig. I have disclosed a modified form of roller in which the roller38 is tapered and the roller.39 is also ta red. The rolleris designed totake the plne of the roller 32 and the roller 39 of the roller 33 whenexception'- allyheavy tubes arefto be dared. Inthis man.: ner the tubewhile being expanded is made slightly larger at a pointnear the frontend of the tool so that all backing out. of the tool incident to theHaring operation is eliminated. In flaring tubes which have a relativelythin wall, these taperedexpanding rollers are notnecessary because thefriction set `up' between the expanding rollers and the interior of thetube is suicient to hold the tool in pobacking out.

It will also be noted that the 'oints between sition during the Haringand prevents its Y the rollers 32 and 33 and 34 an 35 are broken so thatany ridges leftby one set of rollers will be ironed or smoothed out bythe succeeding set. This is an additional f eature in holding my toolagainst longitudmal movement in the tube because during the expandingand the tool. In other words, the tool will screw itself into the tubeby forming slight threads but these threads will be immediately ironedout by a succeeding roller. Therefore, I am enabled to obtainconsiderable pressureagainst the end of the tnbe being rolled andexpanded before the actual expansion and final Haring takes place.

It will also be noted from Figs. 1, 3 and 5 that there is considerablespace left between the rollers 33 and the flaring rollers 37 and it isfor this purpose that the rollers 34 and 35 are made longer than the;rollers 32 and 33 because, if this -were not done, there would be aninwardly projecting ridge formed between the rollers 33 and theexpanding rollers 37 but by having at least two sets of rollerslprojecting beyond, this4 ridge. or projectlon is rolled out.

In my device I have shown a plurality of rollers arranged in setscapable o radial projection, soie of which sets are-longer than others;and I have shown a plurality of liaring rollers, which are projectedoutwardly .and at an angle inclined toward the front of lthe tool. Thenumber of these rollers, especially the radially expansible rollers, maybe varied to suit various diameters of tubes, as

may be the flaring rollers. However, in regard to the flaring rollers,it is essential that at least two such rollers be used 1n order toobviate any tiltin tendency of the tool while --in operation as oterwise, instead of rolllng 'the tube around, there might be atendency'to make it elliptical and thereby prevent lts beingseated'tightly.

When it is desired to insertl the tool through a hand-hole 40, themandrel is withdrawn until it assumes the position illustrated in Fig.8, in which instance the radially expand'- that its tapered portion 19will contact with the various rollers and then rotatedby hand, whichrotation, due to the inclination of the 'rollers,will cause the mandrelto feed forward until suiiicient friction is set up to prevent anyfurther hand rotation. Then, either bars are inserted in the openings 22or the angular end 23 is attached to a rotating device and the mandrelfurther rotated. This 'causes the rollers which project radially -tofurther bind the interior of the tube, feeding the cage forwardlongitudinally in the tube, it being understood of course,- that therollers 37 are also rotate Continued forward feeding of the cage androtation of the rollers with the said cage,

cage will cause the rollers 37 to commence to expand the tube until suchtime *as `the forward feeding of the tool is halted byexess strain. Themandrel, however,.continues to rotate and gradually expands the tube andthe flared portion and as this is gradually expanded and flared, theentire tool can ,feed' forward again. This is continued until the tubeis tightly seated and'flared after which the mandrel 1s given a slightrotation in the opposite direction to release the rollers and thenpulled back until the head 28 of the sleeve 26 strikes the cage, afterwhich the entire tool is withdrawn. Inthis connection it is to be notedthat the head 28 is larger than the bore 18 so that the mandrel can notbe entirely withdrawn from the cage.

The manner in ,which the openings 40b through which the. tubes 41project are .a cage circular in cross-section formed may be either bychamfering the edge of the opening 40b as indicated by the numeral 40 inFig. 1, or it may be rounded as indicated by the numeral 42 in Fig. 9 sothat the ends 43 of the tubes 4l can bend readily While being flared, orit may be left sharp. The' sharp edge, however, I have found requiresconsiderable skill in flaring so as not to cut off the flared portion ofthe tube or to cut into its outer surface during the flaring thusweakening the tube at this point. However, with very thin walled tubes,a sharp edge can be left and the thicker the wall of the tube, theblunter or more round the edge adjacent the tube should be.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim is: l

1. A tube expander and flarer comprising acage, a tapered mandrelextending therethrough andcapable of longitudinal movement therein, aplurality of rollers carried by said cage, said rollers contacting'withsaid mandrel and adapted to be projected radially beyond the peripheryof said cage, certain of said rollers being of greater length than theremainder of said rollers, a plurality of tapered flaring rollers,carried by said cage in equally spaced circumferential relation to eachother and located between the longer rollers, said rollers contactingwith said mandrel and adapted to be moved outward and forwardly therebywhereby a tube is expanded and has its ends flared simultaneously,reduced portions formed on said mandrel intermediate its ends forpermitting said rollers to recede into said cage, and means carried byone end of said mandrel for receiving a rotating means whereby saidmandrel, rollers and cage can be rotated simultaneously.

2. A tube expander and flarer comprising a cage, a sleeve projectingfrom one end of a tapered mandrel extending therethrough and capable oflongitudinal movement therein, a plurality of rollers carried by saidcage, said rollers contacting with said mandrel 'and adapted toprojected radially beyond the periphery of said cage, certain of saidrollers being of greater length than 'the remainderl of "said rollers,'ai plurality of tapered flaring rollers carried by said cage in equallyspaced circumferential relation to each other and having their forwardedges projecting beyond the rear edges of the longer rollers, saidrollers contacting with said mandrel and adapted to be moved outward andforwardly thereby whereby a tube is expanded and has its endsl flaredsimultaneously, a reduced portion formed on said mandrel for permittingsaid rollers to pass into said cage a predetermined distance, and means0n one end of said mandrel for receiving a rotating means whereby saidmandrel, rollers and cage can be rotated simultaneously.

3. A tube expander and flarer comprising and having a cylindrical boreextending longitudinally therethrough, circumferentiall spaced openingsformed through the wal of said cage adjacent its rear end, ,saidopenings inclining forwardly, radially extending openings formed in saidcage and extending longitudinally thereof, certain of said openingshaving their rear ends extending rearward of the forward edge of theinclined openings, flaring rollers located in said inclined openings, apluralit of expanding rollers mounted in the radially extendingopeningsa tapered mandrel extending through said cage and capable oflongitudinal movement therethrough for simultaneously projecting all ofsaid rollers beyond the periphery of said cage, said mandrel beingprovided at its large end with means for receiving a rotating means sothat said cage, rollers and mandrel can be rotated simultaneously, areduced cylindrical portion formed on the small end of said mandrel, anda cylindrical sleeve carried by said reduced portion adjacent its endswhereby said rollers are permitted to pass into the cage while removingorA inserting the same.

4. A tube expander and flarer comprising a cage, a sleeve carriedthereby, expanding rollers carried by said cage and adapted tov havetheir peripheries 4projected beyondthe pe-v riphery of the cage, thelongitudinal axis of said rollers being at an angle to the longitudinalaxis of said cage, a mandrel having a tapered portion movable centrallythrough said cage and adapted to contact with sai rollers for causingsaid projection, and separate flarin rollers carried by said cage, saidflaring rol ers adapted to be contacted with by said mandrel and movedoutward from said cage at an angle less than 90 de rees to thelongitudinal axis of said cage y said mandrel.

5. A tube expander and ilarer comprising a cage, a sleeve carriedthereby, expanding rollers carried by said cage and adapted to *A ofsaid rollers ben have their peripheries projected beyond the peripheryof the cage, the longitudinal axis at an angle to the longitudinal axisof sai cage, a mandrel having a tapered portion intermediate its endsand movable centrally through said cage and adapted to contact with saidrollers for causwith saidv rollers for causing said projectdin,

ing said progection, and separate laringrollers carried said cage, saidflaring rollers being locate between certain of said first mentionedrollers adapted to be contacted with by said'mandrel and moved outwardand forward simultaneously by said mandrel.

6. A tube expander and larer comprising a cage, `a sleeve carriedthereby, expanding rollers .carried b said cage and adapted to havetheir perip eries projected beyond the, periphery of the cage, thelongitudinal axis i at an angle to the longiof said rollers bein tudinalaxis of sai cage, a mandrel having tapered portions and f movablecentrally through said cage and 'adapted to contact with said rollersfor causing said projection,

separate flarin rollers carried by said cage,` I

said flaring ro 1ers adapted to be contacted with by said mandrel andmoved outward at an angle less than degrees to the longitudinal axis ofsaid cage by said mandrel, means carried by the endsof said mandrel forpreventing its removalfrom the cage, and a'reducedportion formed ons'aidmandrel for permitting theexpanding and flaring rollers y to moveinto said cage.

7 A tube expander and arer com rising a cage, a sleeve carried ther-'ebexpan 'ng roll- I ers carried by said cage an adapted to have theirperifpheries projected beyond the periphery o the cage, the longitudinalaxis of said rollers being tudinal axis of said ca tapered portion anmovable centrally through said cage and adapted to contact separate arinrollers carried by said cage, said larin ro lers ada ted to be contactedwith by sai mandrel an moved outward and forward simultaneously'byf'said mandrel, means carried b the ends of Said mandrel forpreventing its removal from Ithe cage,v

and a reduced portion formed on said mandrell adjacent one end -forpermitting the expending and flaring rollers to moveintosaid c a 4testimony whereof I have ailixed my signature. GRAVES R. MAUPIN.4 'y

at an angle to the longi-y a mandrel having a

